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iGi (indie Game incubator) Demo Day 2021 presentation [Image heavy]

ggx2ac

Member
Expert
(They publish Dark Souls)
On November 26th 2021, iGi (indie Game incubator) created by the publisher Marvelous held its first demo day where the five indie teams that had gone through the program were presenting their games.

The video is 51 minutes long and it hasn't had that many views (1k views as of the time of this post):



If you have never heard of iGi until this thread, the presenters in the video will explain it to you.

What caught my eye other than the progress made in the games being developed was that each indie developer were presenting a pitch for their game. They tell the audience who they think the game will appeal to and also give details on budget and resources needed for the project.

I recommend watching the video (the video has subtitles), I will post some screenshots from the developer's pitches but there are so many slides that I will not be posting images of all of them.

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Title: Never Awake
Release date: Early 2022
Developer: Neotro Inc.

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Title: Antarctic Base
Release date: Summer 2022
Developer: RexLabo

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Title: Ninja or Die
Release date: Spring 2022 (Steam), Summer 2022 (Switch)
Developer: Nao Games

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Title: Necromance-chan
Release date: June 2022
Developer: Superstar Mine

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Title: Relash
Release date: 2022
Developer: Retro Grade

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I recommend you watch the video as the screenshots posted do not give all the details.

iGi Official site (English): https://igi.dev/index_en.html

There are also old threads linked below about iGi indie game incubator if you want to find more information:
Marvelous (They publish Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin) announce the launch of Indie Game Incubator, an online program for supporting indie developers

Famitsu (They publish Weekly Famitsu) interviews the creators of iGi (indie Game incubator) from Marvelous [DeepL translated]

Marvelous unveils the five participating teams in the indie Game incubator program (iGi) for 2021
 
going through the whole business aspect is really cool to see
I think it’s honestly a way to publicly display that smaller Japanese publishers investing in the indie space may be a solid business practice, to show if it’s a viable means of expansion by making it all public, and to give Japanese indies some courage to pursue it with their help.

I want it to be a success so the Japanese indie scene might grow.
 
Thank you for sharing! I’ve only ever seen pitch decks for physical products and that too mostly in Europe. It’s very interesting to see how it is presented when considering software.
 
Oh, I love this, I'd watch this all day! I have something to do now.
 
Details of 2nd year of iGi program includes financial support
If you still haven't watched the video in the OP, near the end of it they posted details about the second year of the iGi program where applications are open and the deadline for submitting applications is February 28th, 2022. (Source: https://indiegamesjp.dev/?p=4667 )

One of the new things they will be doing is they will provide financial support to the teams participating if they need it (see details in the press release below).

Press Release (translated using DeepL):
Source: https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000006.000081329.html

iGi, Japan's first indie game incubation program, begins accepting applications for its second term.

Japan's first indie game incubation program sponsored by Marvelous Corporation (President and CEO: Shuichi Huda; Location: Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo) The iGi indie game incubator (abbreviated as iGi) held a demo day today, inviting domestic and international publishers and media to celebrate the program's inaugural edition.

And today, we will start accepting applications for the second term of the program, which will be even more powerful.

In the second phase, we will continue to provide the 400 hours of mentoring by domestic and international experts that was so popular in the first phase, and as a new challenge, we will also provide financial support to teams that need development funding, as described below. In addition, we will be offering more detailed support to indie game developers by setting up a new program to meet their needs, such as providing financial support to teams that need it.

[Open Positions]
1: You plan to sell your game on PC (Steam) or self-publish it on other platforms.

2: Those who wish to help fund the development of a complete prototype in order to attract publishers and investors.

3: You are willing to live stream your game

4: You are a student.

5: If you do not fall into any of the above categories, or if you are not sure which one to choose.

Applicants must be:
Core members must be over 18 years old and Japanese speakers living in Japan.

Demo or vertical slice must be working (proposal only is not acceptable)

You must not have a contract with a publisher (negotiating is possible).

You must be able to attend 4 hours of training per week.

No English language skills required (however, you will be trained to present in English during the program).

Ability to participate in mentoring and training sessions for 6 months.
 
small update regarding publisher offers
Marvelous released their business report for the year considering they just had their annual general meeting, they don't translate the business reports into English. Link: https://corp.marv.jp/library/img/jigyohokoku4q2022.pdf

There is one small detail I found from it regarding the developers who participated in the first instance of iGi. (translated using DeepL):
We have already received offers from several publishers, including our own company, for the five titles participating in the first phase, and we expect each title to be released in the near future.

So take a look at the first post again and see some of the slides which had publishing costs listed for some of the games, not surprised that there are publishers other than Marvelous that would approach them.
 
Ninja or Die needs to turn down the bloom. Nova Antartica looks interesting but it's hard to know what you do in the game
 
Phoenixx Games will publish NeverAwake.






Relash was already self-published earlier this year too. Necromance-chan is the only MiA now.
 
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They finally put out a video 7 days ago which showcases all the games for the 2nd year of iGi but they only talk about what changed in Development and the video is only ten minutes long which means no sales pitch content.

 
They finally put out a video 7 days ago which showcases all the games for the 2nd year of iGi but they only talk about what changed in Development and the video is only ten minutes long which means no sales pitch content.


just noticed Calm is in this. they mentioned on their twitter that they were a part of the igi, so I'm glad this is getting some exposure. I really like the style.

don't know if this is an excerpt from that video, but they posted a shorter clip on twitter as well (those devs retweeted it, which is how I found it)
 
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